If no custody agreement is in place and the child is in the mother's possession, can the father take the child from the grandparents while they babysit?
Question Details:
Our daughter has left her mentally andsome what physically abusive husband and has moved back in with us. Their 1 year old daughter has been in our physical care 1/2 to more of her life. He has shown little to no interest in the child. My husband has been more of a father to her in her short life then her real father. Now that he can't "be" with his wife, he has now started to use the baby and say he is going to take her away and wants mother to hand her over for visitations (showed no interest until now). We're afraid he'll try to take the child away when alone with us. Can he, if mother says no?
We should meet as soon as possible. Until a custody order is in place, each parent has coequal rights and can remove the child from you. the mother can delegate her parental rights to you for a period of 6 months (ORS 109.056), but that is not binding on the father. If you have become the child's primary caretaker, you can file for custody as a psychological parent. At the same time, you can seek a "status quo" order preserving the current arrangment while the case is litigated.
Mark Kramer
Kramer & Associates
503.243.2733
